Computer management system

• US 5,815,652 A
• Filed: 05/30/1996
• Issued: 09/29/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Yuichi, Furukawa, Hiroshi, Sakurai, Shigeru, Murai, Masami, Tobita, Tsunehiro, Miyagawa, Yuji, Karasaki, Teiji, Washimi, Hiroaki, Ote, Ichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baderman, Scott T.
• Application Number:
  US08/655,482
• Time in Patent Office: 852 Days
• Field of Search: 395/183.07, 395/183.01, 395/183.15, 395/184.01, 395/182.2, 395/200.53, 395/200.54, 364/280.3
• US Class Current: 714/31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0784 Routing of error reports, e.g. with a specific transmission path or data flow
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/22 Detection or location of defective computer hardware by testing during standby operation or during idle time, e.g. start-up testing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2205 using arrangements specific to the hardware being tested
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3072 where the reporting involves data filtering, e.g. pattern matching, time or event triggered, adaptive or policy-based reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/327 Alarm or error message display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

A computer management system includes an agent connected to a computer to be managed for executing instructions on the computer to be managed, a service processor board having a processor independent from the computer to be managed for monitoring fault in the computer to be managed and controlling power of the computer to be managed, a manager for executing instructions on a management computer and conducting controls such as fault monitoring and power control through the agent over a network including a public line, and a service processor manager directly connected to the service processor for conducting remote power-on and receiving and diagnosing critical fault. The service processor and the service processor manager are provided with switching circuits for switching an asynchronous interface for remotely connecting to the computer to be managed and an asynchronous interface for directly connecting to a local processor of the service processor.

Claims

1. A computer management system comprising:

at least two computers connected by a network;

a network operating system (OS) adapted to be executed on each of said computers for controlling data transfer between the computers connected to said network and a file system service on said network;

a manager operating on at least one computer serving as a management computer, of said computers connected by said network, for managing at least configuration and fault of the other computer as a computer to be managed, of said computers connected by said network;

an agent on said computer to be managed, for monitoring information on said computer to be managed and controlling said computer to be managed in accordance with an instruction from said manager sent through said network;

an extended board, connected to an I/O bus of said computer to be managed, said extended board including a processor independent from said computer to be managed for monitoring the occurrence of fault in said computer to be managed, sending fault information to said agent through said I/O bus and a service processor (SVP) for controlling a power supply of said computer to be managed by an instruction from said agent; and

a sub-power supply for continuously and constantly supplying power to said extended board independently of the power supply to said computer to be managed.

2. A computer management system according to claim 1 wherein said managing computer and said computer to be managed are connected by a public line by a modem connected to an asynchronous interface as an additional function of said network OS, and said manager executed by said management computer controls said agent executed by said computer to be managed having said SVP connected thereto and said SVP to manage said computer.

3. A computer management system according to claim 1 further comprising:

a plurality of sensors for monitoring the fault of said computer to be monitored, including a sensor for monitoring the stop of a fan, a sensor for monitoring an abnormal temperature of a housing, a sensor for monitoring an error in a power supply unit, a sensor for monitoring a fault in a peripheral device board connected to said I/O bus and a sensor for monitoring a fault in hard disk drives of a disk array; and

signal lines for sending information on the fault from said sensors to said SVP board.

4. A computer management system according to claim 3 wherein said SVP includes a fault monitor comprising:

fault monitoring means for monitoring various faults of said computer to be monitored by said signal lines from said sensors;

fault event generation means for generating a fault event to inform the fault to said agent through said I/O bus in response to the occurrence of the fault and sending the fault event to said agent; and

fault logging means for recording the fault event as fault log.

5. A computer management system according to claim 4 wherein said computer to be managed comprises a device driver for sending the fault occurred in peripheral devices including a disk drive and a network adaptor to said agent as the fault event,

wherein said agent collects the fault event from said device driver or said SVP, records the fault event on a disk as fault history, sends the fault event to said fault logging means of said SVP, records the fault event in said SVP as the fault history and sends fault warning to said manager through said network.

6. A computer management system according to claim 1 wherein said manager of said managing computer includes a fault manager comprising;

fault warning display means for displaying the fault event sent from said agent on a screen as the fault warning to provide warning to a user; and

fault log display means for sending a fault history acquire request for the record in a recorder of said agent to said agent by an instruction from a user and displaying the fault history sent from said agent on a screen.

7. A computer management system according to claim 5 further comprising:

main unit OS status monitoring means for periodically communicating with said agent executed on said computer to be managed to determine a normal operation of said computer to be managed and the system-down by the presence or absence of a response from said computer to be managed and requesting a response to said agent in response to a system operation check request of said manager to determine an operation status of the system by the presence or absence of a response from said computer to be managed and informing the status to said manager; and

automatic fault informing control means for connecting to said manager of said managing computer by asynchronous communication control means in response to notification from said main unit OS status monitoring means upon occurrence of critical fault for informing the occurrence of the critical fault.

8. A computer management system according to claim 7 further comprising:

automatic fault information reception means for displaying a system-down message on a screen in response to the notice from said automatic fault informing control means of said SVP upon occurrence of the critical fault in said computer to be managed;

fault diagnosing means for sending a fault signal line information acquire request from the sensors of said computer to be managed to said fault monitoring means of said SVP by an instruction by the user, sending a fault history acquire request to said fault logging means of said SVP and displaying the acquired fault information on the screen to support the fault diagnosis of the user;

remote reset means for sequentially sending a power-off request and a power-on request to said power control means by an instruction of the user to remotely reset the system; and

system operation check means for sending a system operation check request to said OS status monitoring means of said SVP to acquire information on the operation status of the system and displaying the information on the screen.

9. A computer management system according to claim 1 further comprising:

a status monitoring circuit in said computer to be managed for monitoring hardware status and fault of said computer to be managed;

an interface in said computer to be managed for allowing said agent to acquire the information on the hardware status from said status monitoring circuit;

fault monitoring means in said agent for acquiring the information on the hardware status of said computer to be managed from said status monitoring circuit through said SVP or said interface to determine fault state to generate a fault event;

fault log recording means in said SVP for recording the fault event as fault log; and

fault warning generation means in said SVP for sending the fault event to said manager as fault warning.

10. A computer management system according to claim 1 further comprising:

an interface between said network OS and devices in said computer to be managed, and said agent; and

configuration information managing means in said agent for managing acquirement and setting of information on configuration and status of said network OS and said devices.

11. A computer management system comprising:

at least two computers connected by a network;

a network operating system (OS) adapted to be executed on each of said computers for controlling data transfer between the computers connected to said network and a file system service on said network;

a manager operating on at least one computer serving as a management computer, of said computers connected by said network, for managing at least configuration and fault of the other computer as a computer to be managed, of said computers connected by said network;

an agent on said computer to be managed, for monitoring information on said other computer to be managed and controlling said other computer to be managed in accordance with an instruction from said manager sent through said network;

an extended board, connected to an I/O bus of said computer to be managed, said extended board including a processor independent from said computer to be managed for monitoring the occurrence of fault in said computer to be managed, sending fault information to said agent through said I/O bus and a service processor (SVP) for controlling a power supply of said computer to be managed by an instruction from said agent; and

an SVP manager adapted to be executed on said management computer at a remote site, operating independently from said manager, directly connected to said SVP by a modem connected to an asynchronous interface through a public line for controlling said SVP in response to the occurrence of power-off or critical fault in said computer to be managed.

12. A computer management system according to claim 11 further comprising:

a power control circuit for controlling a power unit of said computer to be managed;

power control means for controlling said power control circuit in response to a request from said SVP manager of said agent to control the power-on/off of said computer to be managed; and

preset time power control means responsive to a preset time power-on/off request from said agent for setting a power-on/off time to a real time clock circuit, responsive to a notice of a power-on/off time from said real time clock circuit for controlling said power control circuit by said power control means to turn on the power of said computer to be managed at the power-on time and, at the power-off time, sending a system shut-down request to said network OS through said agent and after the shut-down of the system operation, turning off the power by said power control means.

13. A computer management system according to claim 11 wherein said SVP manager includes remote power on/off means connected directly to said SVP through a public line for sending a power-on/off request to power control means of said SVP in response to an instruction from a user.

14. A computer management system according to claim 12 wherein said management computer comprises power-on/off means for sending a power-on/off request to said power control means of said SVP through said agent connected to said network in response to an instruction from the user and preset time power-on/off means for sending a preset time power-on/off request to said preset time power control means of said SVP through said agent in response to an instruction from the user.

15. A computer management system according to claim 11 further comprising:

an asynchronous interface switching circuit for selecting one of an asynchronous interface connected to a local processor of said SVP and an asynchronous interface accessible by a CPU of said computer to be managed as an asynchronous interface connected to a modem;

line switching control means for controlling the switching of said asynchronous interface switching circuit;

asynchronous communication control means for controlling the asynchronous interface and the modem for connecting the SVP manager of said managing computer to said SVP through the public line in response to the selection of the asynchronous interface connected to the local processor of said SVP by said line switching means; and

line connection monitoring means for controlling said line switching controller in response to the disconnection of the public line connection to switch said asynchronous interface switch to the local processor of said SVP.

16. A computer management system according to claim 15 wherein said SVP manager includes line connection means for connecting said computer to be managed directly to said SVP from said SVP manager through the public line, and line switching mens for sending an asynchronous interface switching request to said line switching control means of said SVP.

17. A computer management system according to claim 15 wherein said asynchronous interface switching circuit of said SVP is set to select an asynchronous interface connected to the local processor of said SVP as an initial state and then set to select an asynchronous interface accessible by a processor of said computer to be managed by line switching means of said SVP manager by an instruction by a user so that said manager of said managing computer and said agent of said computer to be managed are connected to the network via the public line through said network OS and a remote access function from the state in which said SVP manager and said SVP are connectable through the public line, whereby the user is allowed to manage said computer to be managed by said managing computer.

18. A computer management system according to claim 17 further comprising:

line connection monitoring means for monitoring the disconnection of the public line connection after the start of said remote access function;

wherein when the user shuts down the management of said computer to be managed by said manager and the line of said remote access function is disconnected and shut down, upon disconnection of the line, said line connection monitoring means controls said line switching control means to switch said asynchronous interface switching circuit to the local processor of said SVP, and said manager returns the connection to an initial state connectable to said SVP.

19. A computer management system according to claim 11 further comprising:

a power control circuit in said SVP for controlling a power supply unit of said computer to be managed;

power control means in said SVP for controlling said power control circuit by a request from said SVP manager to control the turn-on/off of the power of said computer to be managed; and

remote reset means in said SVP manager connected to said SVP via a public line by said SVP through an asynchronous interface for sequentially sending a power-off request and a power-on request to said power control means to remotely reset said computer to be managed.

20. A computer management system comprising:

at least two computers connected by a network;

a network operating system (OS) adapted to be executed on each of said computers for controlling data transfer between the computers connected to said network and a file system service on said network;

a manager operating on at least one computer serving as a management computer, of said computers connected by said network, for managing at least configuration and fault of the other computer as a computer to be managed, of said computers connected by said network;

an agent on said computer to be managed, for monitoring information on said other computer to be managed and controlling said other computer to be managed in accordance with an instruction from said manager sent through said network;

an extended board, connected to an I/O bus of said computer to be managed, said extended board including a processor independent from said computer to be managed for monitoring the occurrence of fault in said computer to be managed, sending fault information to said agent through said I/O bus and a service processor (SVP) for controlling a power supply of said computer to be managed by an instruction from said agent; and

automatic operation schedule management means in said agent for holding schedule information to automatically operate said computer to be managed and controlling said SVP in accordance with the scheduling information to automatically turn on and off the power supply of said computer to be managed.